


The Final Journey

by angelamulry



Category: Chalet School - Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 18:09:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17565452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelamulry/pseuds/angelamulry
Summary: Written on Holocaust Memorial Day. Reading 'A Chalet School from Kenya' it is said re. Thekla Von Stift that "the entire family seems to have vanished off the face of the globe." These are my thoughts





	The Final Journey

“Come on Mother,” said Thekla softly, “Let’s get in this truck.”  
Her mother stumbled up to her and Thekla tried to help her into the cattle truck. She couldn’t do it on her own but a nun and younger woman standing behind helped her hoist her into the truck.  
“Schnell! Schnell! “shouted the guards striding up the platform. Thekla scrambled up and in after her mother and turned to help the nun. There was a gasp from the other woman, “Thekla Von Stift!” she gasped. Thekla looked, a memory tugged, “Alixe Von Elsen,” said the woman. Thekla gasped also. “How?” she asked as she and Aiixe helped the nun into the truck and then Alixe scrambled in afterwards. Thekla looked round the crowded truck and fought her way over to a corner for her mother to sit it. Alixe followed turning to see if the nun would stay with them.  
Thekla’s mother sat down on the floor dazed. “Are we going home then?” she asked,  
Poland,” said Alixe curtly, “but through Prussia.”  
“Home,” said Thekla’s mother happily, “Where Wolfram will be waiting.”  
Alixe looked at Thekla who said, “Yes, that is right, why don’t you have a nap now, mother so you can be ready to greet them.” Her mother nodded and closed her eyes obediently.  
The nun sat on her other side. “Will she see him?” he asked quietly  
Thekla scowled. “Wolfram, my brother was lost in Stalingrad and Wolfram, my father died in the first camp we were in,” she said abruptly.  
Alixe looked at her, “How are you here?” she asked, and then in apology to the nun, “We went to the same school for a time, the Chalet School at the TIernsee in Austria.”  
The nun gasped in her turn. “I went there too. I am, or was, Luigia Di Ferrara”  
“Bianca’s sister? How have you ended up here?”  
“I was transferred to a German Convent. We took in some young men and women to avoid them being put in a camp, but we were betrayed. The Convent was closed and we were dispersed among camps. I don’t know if any of my fellow nuns are still alive, but maybe I will see them again soon."  
Thekla listened whilst the train rumbled along the track. The truck was full, it was hot, there was not room to move, this was another long journey, possibly passing places she had known when she was a child. Alixe and Luigia talked about their lives but she felt dispassionate and uninterested. There would be another camp, there would be hardship, starvation. She had lived like this for so long she had lost interest. Her brother was dead, her father also, her home was no more. Her mother was alive, just. What was the point of it all? She came out of her thoughts to hear Alixe saying, “As Matey said, we mustn’t be spineless jellyfish”.  
“Sorry, I was thinking,” said Thekla, “You were saying?”  
“We were just reminiscing, “said Alixe with a grin. “What I really want at the moment is some raw smoked bacon!”  
Thekla scowled again. “Matron took the rest off me,” she said, “And dosed me with Cod Liver Oil!”  
“And me,” said Alixe. “What happened to you after school?”  
“I went home,” said Thekla slowly, “My father was furious and I was given a governess and kept at home for the next couple of years. Wolfram was an ardent Nazi which my father abhorred but kept quiet about it. We managed to stay out of trouble but eventually, the Gestapo came and took over the house. They interrogated us and sent us to camps as my father refused to allow my mother and I to join any Nazi Organisation. I think,” she said, “My brother told on us, but his revenge fell flat, he died in the Soviet Union in Stalingrad. What was the point of betraying his family?”  
“Maybe it was his belief that he had to do so,” said Luigia, “He had his priorities which we cannot understand.”  
“And if he did not, then someone else did or would have done,” added Alixe practically. “Don’t blame him too much. In this environment people act strangely, something that we all must come to terms with. I also was betrayed, by someone who I thought was a friend and helper on the Untergrundbahn. I did help men escape from camps, including two from the Sanitorium at the beginning of the war and so, I feel that I have achieved much in life. I wonder what the Abbess and Bill would think of me now!"  
“I am sure they would be proud” said Luigia. “I hope my family are not worrying too much about me.”  
The train continued and the women all slept a little. There was no food or drink in the truck and other people in the truck cried and suffered. The conversation was desultory whilst the train hurtled eastwards. Eventually the train stopped. The doors opened. “Arbeit Macht Frei” was written above the gates leading to the camp. The truck slowly emptied. Thekla stretched down to arouse her mother but her mother didn’t move. Thekla looked down at her, Luigia knelt beside her and made the Sign of the Cross quickly saying a prayer over her.  
Alixe looked at Thekla, “It’s for the best.” She said, “She thought she was going home, now she is.”  
Thekla nodded and Luigia put an arm around her pulling her towards the exit of the truck. A guard looked in. He pointed at the body.  
“She is dead,” said Alixe.  
“You,” said the guard pointing at her, “bring her out, I will show you where to go. Quickly.”  
Alixe did as she was asked carrying the body into the camp towards the newly dug pit. She suddenly realised she had not said anything on parting to the other two.  
Luigia also realised she had not said anything when leaving the truck but she was looking after Thekla who was struggling to keep calm. They followed the other women to a room where they were told to undress ready for the showers. Luigia helped Thekla undress and walked with her. When they entered the showers, the taps were turned on but it was not water that came out.  
Alixe found that she was expected to remove the bodies from the gas chamber to the pit. She carried many bodies. Returning to the chamber she picked up the next body and saw it was Thekla. She carried her and put her down. Next, she found Luigia and looked after her body in the same way. She paused at the edge of the pit, looked down at the bodies and tears came to her eyes as she remembered the Chalet School and and her schooldays. She was so lost in thought she didn’t hear the guards passing and didn’t hear the gun or feel the bullet as it sent her body tumbling down into the pit on top of her schoolfellows.


End file.
